It was a testing week for a rookie at the Amundi Czech Ladies Challenge with challenging weather conditions causing delays and longer play.
With the European swing now well underway, a host of rookies were in action at Panorama Golf Resort looking to follow in fellow rookie Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen’s footsteps and take home a win.
Two rookies shined the brightest at the tournament with France’s Chloe Salort and Finland’s Tia Teiniketo coming in at third.
Salort had a consistent week carding rounds of 73,72 and 72 to finish the tournament on one over par.
Speaking about the week Salort said: “This tournament was interesting for me because of the weather and the group timings I had, we had to come back very early and we finished really late in the second round, of course that makes the game difficult mentally.
“The key was to stay patient and to have less frustration on the golf course. This tournament was definitely a mental challenge.
“The weather you can’t control, so I had to focus on what i could control, my game, my attitude, so that’s what i did and I think i did it pretty well.
“The last round I was tired, as I didn’t sleep much but that’s part of golf.
“I learned that I have to stay patient no matter what and stay focussed on what I can control. I was hoping for first and second place, but I will take top three.
“My game was not the best to be honest but because of my attitude i could still get a decent score.
Salort is now excited for the two week stretch in Sweden starting with the Vasteras Open By Elite Hotels at Fullerö Golfklubb on the 29th June.
“Next tournament I want to think about winning and being my best.“
Salort is having a strong first year on tour with the 24-year-old from Neuilly sur Seine having secured two top 10 finishes this year and ranking eighth on the LETAS Order of Merit with 415.63 points and third on the LETAS Rookie of the Year list.
“My rookie year so far is good,” Salort explained, “It’s nice to be in the top rookies, it motivates me as i feel I’m not at my full potential, I still need to work and learn a lot, but it’s nice to see that not even at my full potential I can be high in the ranking.
“I really like being on the tour, my goal this year is to push myself as much as I can and see how good i can be.
“I hope that I will be in the top six to earn my spot for the LET next year but I also want to enjoy it and see if this life is for me, because you don’t know until you live it.
“Being only a couple of months into my professional career you don’t really see everything and all the parts of the job so I’m just excited to learn a little more and hope its going to be good.”
Finland’s Tia Teiniketo made moves on the final day to move up the tournament leaderboard.
It was a challenging start for the rookie who carded 75 on the first day, but soon found her swing, carding final rounds of 72 and 70 to finish in her best position on the tour to date.
Speaking about her week Teiniketo said: “I really enjoyed my week in Czech, Panorama Golf is such a beautiful course and the overall atmosphere there just made me feel really comfortable.
“The course was in perfect condition and even though it’s definitely a very challenging course I really liked the layout and was able to perform well.
“The biggest thing I learned from this event is that winning on LETAS is not out of reach for me. I came really close to it, which just gives me so much more faith in myself and what I’m doing.
” I played some really solid golf all tournament and thanks to Upgame’s stats I know what parts of my game I need to work on to perform even better next time I tee it up.
“The biggest takeaway is just getting the mindset of like I know I can win out here.
Teiniketo is thoroughly enjoying her first year as a professional on the tour and after this recent tournament has made moves up the Order of Merit ranking to 14th position.
“So far my year has been good. I played a few events on LETAS last year as an amateur so I kind of knew what to expect, but playing a more full schedule definitely takes a bit more planning and organizing than I thought! Really my only goal for the year is to secure a top six-spot in the ranking so I can play on the LET next year!”
LETAS now moves to Sweden for two weeks, with the first tournament commencing on 29th June to the 1st July.
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